Choose a vertebrate and answer these 3 questions:
1) What were the selective forces behind the major adaptions of this organism?
2) What tradeoffs do these adaptations involve?
3) What is the ecological role of this organism?
PAPER:
• 3 pages double-spaced (750-900 words), except for the works cited section, with 1 inch margins. Please reference at least 3 outside sources for this paper. You will be penalized if your paper is significantly over or under the word limit.
• Provide page numbers in the upper right hand corner and provide your last name in the upper left hand corner as headers on all pages
• You should only reference scientific journal articles, books, dissertations and theses, and government, university, or non-profit websites ending in .edu, .gov, and .org. Old student papers posted on university websites do not qualify as appropriate sources. If you are unsure if a source is acceptable, please ask me.
• Online dictionaries and encyclopedias are good starting points but should not be used as references for these papers
• Textbooks, including the one for this class, are not acceptable sources
• Do not use direct quotes, paraphrase only
• You will be graded based upon the following 7 elements:
o Topic selection
o Structure and formatting
o Scientific accuracy
o Organization and coherence
o Use of references
o Style
o Mechanics
• Citations should be made in text for referenced articles using the following format (author last name year) for example:
One author: (Wesson 2007)
Two authors: (Smith and Wesson 2011)
Three or more authors (Smith et al. 2008)
• Be sure that the sources in your works cited are listed in alphabetical order
• Please note that even if you access scientific journal articles, books, and dissertations or theses online, you must use the proper citation format below. DO NOT reference the digital library where you found the source (i.e. JSTOR, Google books, Elsevier, Wiley, BioOne, etc.)
Required minimum-3 page